Work Text:
Demarcation: Subspecies, Fallen Lord
by Scorpio
It had been several hours of nothing. Just the cold vastness of space. Stars burning brightly in the darkness, uninhabited planets and barren rocks caught in the orbit of other more prominent heavenly bodies, but no sign of sentient life. Nothing. Warrior Guide, Blair Sandburg didn't know whether to be relieved or worried.
"Chief. Long range sensors are picking up technology on course heading three three two mark five."
"What is it? Can you tell?"
There was a brief pause as the Warrior-Sentinel processed all the available data from the sensor sweeps.
"It appears to be a directional buoy, but it is hard to tell at this distance. We are not in communication range."
Blair considered it. A directional buoy was normally used to transmit both warnings and welcomes. It was a deep space version of a sign post. Whatever information the buoy had would come in handy.
"James, adjust course to bring us into communication range. We can then figure out what to do once we hear the message."
"Complying... Course adjustment complete."
Blair watched as the starfield changed slightly as they headed in the other direction. The steady thumping of the Hyper-Stratic engines picked up their rhythm slightly as James increased their speed. It was only a matter of moments before a static hiss could be heard over the communications system. Blair made some minor adjustments to the bandwidth and frequency levels until the distortion faded away.
He gave a slight flinch of surprise. It was a dual message. He was directly jacked into the communication system, so he was able to decode them both simultaneously. It was... unnerving.
The first and most prominent message was being transmitted in all of the languages and codes that Blair was familiar with as well as quite a few that he wasn't. It was simple.
"You are entering the space controlled by the Fallen Lord. We are a peaceful multi-species society and trade is welcome. Enemies will be destroyed. Present identification and request for access."
The second message, which was buried beneath the first, was only offered in the standard language of the Techno-Lords. It was *this* that had Blair wondering if they had made an error in judgment.
"You are entering the space controlled by the Fallen Lord, also known as the Exiled One. Refugee's and escaped slaves are welcome. I require a total mind-link to insure that you are not a spy. Spies are terminated unequivocally, refugees are offered sanctuary."
Blair was familiar with the process of a total mind-link. He had suffered them before. A total mind-link only happened when a person with implanted Technology adapter-jacks or an AI unit forged a jack-link with another mind, usually an AI and then dropped all barriers and password protections. A mind-link, in essence, opened a persons every thought, emotion and memory to the intense and analytical scrutiny of another mind. Nothing was left untouched or unexamined. Everything was shared.
It was... unpleasant. It was very difficult to give up that degree of singularity and to create the kind of trust required to submit in such... totality. Blair could and often did achieve that level of oneness with James, but then again, James was his Sentinel.
A mind-link with James was not a chore, but a pleasure. It allowed Blair to experience James heightened senses and it gave James an understanding of the more abstract concepts. In fact, James ability to feel emotion was a direct result of repeated total mind-links with Blair. Then again, he trusted James with his weaknesses and his fears. He didn't trust anyone else.
It was, however, an understandable precaution. A total mind-link was the *only* proven way to prevent spies from infiltrating a Techno-Lord. A person can always *say* that they are loyal, but a mind-link will actively seek out hidden thoughts and programs designated for betrayal and violence aimed towards the Techno Lord.
So, they were faced with a choice. Subject themselves to a total mind-link in order to gain a promise of sanctuary or go off and try to forge a life by themselves in a sector of space completely unknown to them. Which was the lessor of two evils?
To try and order his swirling thoughts, Blair transferred the communication message to James via their jack link. He watched the minute signs that flickered briefly across James's face that signaled that his Sentinel had received the message and was currently processing it.
"Well, James. What do you think?"
"I'll be honest here Chief. I don't really like to link all my senses to an AI at once. It can be... overwhelming. Still, I understand the reasoning and I don't have anything to hide."
Blair nodded. It was true. They *didn't* have anything to hide. He took a deep breath and made a decision.
"Keep on course into the Fallen Lord's territory. We'll request sanctuary. Full sensor sweeps."
A little over two standard hours later, the sensors were a riot of readings. The sensors showed massive amounts of technology and life-forms. They had found the Fallen Lord. The AI was pretty typical for a Techno Lord. The sensors picked up a few things that were unusual or even unknown, but for the most part, the exiled Techno Lord was much like any other Blair had ever seen. A self- sustaining AI Unit roughly the size of the planet Mars...
END
Demarcation: Subspecies, Fallen Lord